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MadFroG Interview Special

WCReplays.com's new affiliate, the Swedish website Gamingeye.com, has made a few interviews with the one and only MaDFroG. We have been allowed to translate these interviews in order to share them with those who do not speak Swedish. The first one is from right after MaDFroG won the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational, and the other one is very recent. Both interviews were written by Erik "markattan" Glenne from Gamingeye, and translated by KidArctica from WCReplays.com. Enjoy!

Markattan Meets MaDFroG

Today I got a chance to interview the recent winner of the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational. He is probably Sweden's and one of the world's best Warcraft players. His Undead playing style is feared from Korea to Europe, and he does not leave any Korean girls untouched when he enters the TV screen. The person I am talking about is no other than Fredrik "MaDFroG" Johansson himself, who shares some information about his life in Korea.

ABOUT LIFE IN KOREA AND HOMESICKNESS

We here at Gamingeye will start by congratulating you with the victory in the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational, and we'd like to know how you are doing in Korea!

Thanks, yeah, I'm doing just fine. Have eaten well today and am fully rested, and I have an extremely nice feeling inside right now. =)

How does it feel now that you have been in Korea for a while, are there only advantages or are you getting a little homesick and long back to Sweden?

There are mostly advantages, I have developed my playing style a lot down here and I do not regret for a second that I went. Of course you get homesick now and then, but I will get home soon, so I am trying to enjoy my time here to the fullest.

If you look back on your time in Korea, which players were the hardest to beat, which memories are the best? Perhaps you even got some new idols?

You cannot have idols, then you can never be the best... I look up to a lot of players, the best memory is when I won, but since that happened so recently, I guess that's not so strange.

After staying for a while in a different country, you normally start learning the language. Did you get good at Korean during your stay?

Nah, I know about 50 words or something, but you pick up new words all the time. It is always fun when you learn new ones, so I am trying to pick up something now and then.

Which people do you hang around with? Only the Swedes and your teammates, or is it possible to see you downtown with some other known or unknown names?

Hmm, here in Korea I am gaming most of the time, I only go out a few times. We sometimes go to Coex to eat and go to the movies.

Young people often fall in love, do you have a girlfriend in Korea, maybe?

Nope, it is a little hard when you spend most of the day sitting in front of the computer.

Mention three things that you miss in Korea?

Hmm, the food, my friends and my family...

THE LADDER

If you compare the European and the Asian ladder, what are the differences, which advantages and disadvantages do they have?

Europe advantages: -
Asia advantages: Everyone is mannered, no one whines, the players are better...

Do you stay updated on the Swedish War3 scene?

No, not directly. I read the Swedish websites sometimes.

We have seen Sweet[SAINT] getting to level 50 not so long ago. Is this a goal for you?

My goal right now is just getting better, as always. If that will make me a level 50, I guess that is how it will be.

The speculations around what would happen when you hit level 50 have been huge here in Europe, have you heard about anything special?

No, but I guess there will be a tournament when 16 people hit level 50, but that is just my guess.

BLIZZARD WORLDWIDE INVITATIONAL AND CXG

Now you have won Blizzard's own tournament, what are you plans for the nearest future?

I will stay in Korea for a while and wait and see what Intel choose to do, then I will either stay for five more months or go directly home.

Do you have any plans about making a living out of gaming in the future? Does it feel like a more realistic goal after winning?

Yeah, it doesn't feel impossible, I guess I'll have to win one tournament a year, then I'll get by. ;)

Unfortunately, you didn't go to CXG. Why not?

There were some problems with the tickets, and then we got so close to the event that we just skipped it.

How far do you think you could have made it in that tournament? Would you have showed them all and changed the outcome?

Who knows...

WHAT HAPPENED TO HEMAN?

Lately, we have heard less from HeMaN, how is he doing? Does he have any plans we should know about?

He is a little tired of gaming, he will probably go home one of the upcoming weeks.

Does this have anything to do with the Blizzard tournament, or has it been like this for a longer period of time?

I guess it has been like this for a longer period, the latest month perhaps.

OTHER

We know that you are sponsored by Intel, how is that working out? Do you get all that you need?

So far everything has been well, I don't know what is happening in the future. Will get to know though in a few days.

Have you received any interesting offers from other clans lately?

No, Korea's economy is very weak right now. But WC3 is getting bigger, so it may happen in the future.

Unfortunately, I will have to bug you about the old balance questions. Do you think Blizzard is close to their goal? In Europe, we continuously hear people talk about imbalance.

It is still a little imbalanced, I am not going to mention what exactly is, though. But they are very close right now, I think they only need a few changes, and then you can fix the rest with balanced maps.

We noticed that in the pictures at Warcrafters, you had Gamingeye's dear Warcraft section up in your browser, is this representative or just a lucky coincidence?

I always think it is cool to read what people think, but I am sorry that it was just a coincidence. =)

Have the Koreans shown any interest for this fantastic site when you've been surfing it?

No, I am sorry, none of them have seen it...

Finally, we at Gamingeye wants to ask you if you consider yourself the best player in the world, and if not, who hold that spot?

There is no one in that position, everyone has their personal favourites and if you don't have one, then you are one, I guess. ;)

Then, we'd like to thank you for your time, and also let you know that your improvement is making us all proud. Do you have anything more to add?

FIGHTING!

Final words

An interview with MaDFroG has been long awaited. Unfortunately, the interview was not prepared, and I want to thank the others in the Warcraft section for helping me out and making the interview as good as it turned out to be. We hope that we can get a better prepared and perfect interview with our star in Korea very soon! Till then, we should all wish him good luck!

MaDFroG Answering the People's Questions

A while ago we offered our readers to ask their own questions to Fredrik "MaDFroG" Johansson. The interest was enormous, and we got so many questions that we could not get them all answered. Instead, we picked out the best ones and let Fredrik do a long and detailed interview with the people. The questions are about everything from wine, women and song to economy and Warcraft. Dig into the information, the one you wanted yourself.

Time to get some answers.

What do you do in Korea when you don't play Warcraft 3?

I am out drinking with my teammates and a lot of other people I don't really know who are, but the spirits are always high. Other than that, I might go to the movies or a DVD room, which they have here in Korea, you rent a room with a big screen TV and a lovely chair. In addition, I've started working out now after a five month long break.

Do you party a lot in Korea? If so, with who, and who is the best at drinking?

Mostly with my team, we normally go out after having TV broadcasted matches and even some weekends and during some events. It is mostly me, DayFly, Check, Leader, Showbu and Rex.Zorro who lives in our apartment. Also, the commentators for MBC and even those who work behind the camera or set the lights sometimes join us, and sometimes the fans will join us. But there are always a lot of different people coming, and spirits are great like I said before. I am not sure who is the best at drinking, but I am quite bad seeing how I only weigh 62, so I it is hard competing with them. - _ -

What are the three biggest differences of playing in Korea compared to Sweden?

1) Much higher skill 2) Better manner 3) You get a lot more games on the ladder.

Is it true that Korean girls hunt progamers in Korea? Or is that just something someone made up?

Yes, it is true, but it is mostly only for Brood War. But it will probably soon get to WC3, I know that there were lots of girls who screamed when Last Way played against us in the Ongamenet finals.

Do you have a girlfriend?

No. PS, I hope that question was from a girl.. =)

How much time do you spend working out, and how do you work out?

Haha, I work out for about one hour. I have made a schedule where I train different muscle groups every day for four days. Then the gym is closed on Sundays, so then I can't go. I do a lot of hoop jumping for warm-ups. Mostly I work out to feel good, and not to be too stale and lazy. Also, I think it influences my gaming in a positive way. Considering that you get a better pulse and perhaps have an easier time relaxing, but this is just something I believe. It is nice though, as it gives me a lot of time to think about something other than War3.

When will you come back to Sweden?

I will be back in Sweden around the 20th July, because they have been nice enough to set the date for the ESWC qualification based on my needs. I will stay at home for about five weeks, for the summer holiday. =)

When you get back after having played in Korea, do you feel that you have lost almost all respect for the Swedish "pro" players, who haven't had the opportunity to play as much as the Koreans and yourself?

Yes, you could say that, but they can't possibly keep up as there are not that many players on the European server.

What does your family think about you playing computer games in Korea?

They think it is great fun, and as I've said before, it is a really good experience for me. My brother has always backed me up, even though my parents were against it in the beginning, seeing how it influenced my grades. But now they think it's great as I earn a lot of money, and since this has opened a lot of door for me as for what I will be doing after I stop playing.

Have you ever grown tired of WC3? Personally, I have moved to other games now and then, but I have always wondered how it is for you considering all the pressure. You are supposed to be a top player, I mean, you can't lose everything when you are on top, or...?

As of right now, I will continue playing WC3 until after ESWC and WCG at least, then we'll see. I have grown a little tired of playing, but it is really fun to play on TV, and there are lots of fans that root for me. So it is very important for me to do well. I played a little Diablo 2 in between Brood War and War3, but other than that, I have not played any other games than BW and WC3.

What are you planning on doing after you have stopped playing Warcraft, will you continue gaming and play some other game, or will you move on and do something else?

I think it will be something that has to do with games, I cannot imagine that I will be an electrician or something like that.

Cool that you are doing so well! But why!? Why did you change so drastically to WC3 from Starcraft/Brood War? What tempted you to play War3?

Haha, I was probably the last team-q member to change. I wasn't even playing the War3 beta. But what was fun with BW was going to events and so on, and I knew that there wouldn't be much of that considering all the talk about WC3. In the start after changing, I liked BW much better, but now I have to say that I think WC3 is the better game.

How long do you think Warcraft 3 will last as a game? How long will there be major tournaments and so on?

As I see it now, I think it will last for a few years time, it is impossible to say how many, but as long as there aren't any substitutes, I think WC3 will last.

You made big improvements with Night Elf in RoC, why haven't we seen more of your Night Elf?

It is extremely difficult to be good at all matchups with one race. This makes it absolutely impossible to be able to play two races and be equally good at all eight matchups. If I would change race right now, I would take up Orc.

You don't have any plans of starting to play Orc? That would be just raw...

I have played a little, but right now, it is too big of a change considering my TV matches and so on. But maybe after the next patch, we'll see.

Will you start playing WoW when it is released?

No, when you've earned a lot of money from one game, it is really hard to sit down and play a game where you won't get any money whatsoever.

How did you start gaming, and when?

I started playing when I was six or something, at that time I played on my brother's Sega 8-bit and my neighbours had an 8-bit Nintendo. After that, my neighbours got a computer, I was there every day watching them play Warcraft 1, and I remember how cool I thought that was. Later, Warcraft 2 came out, and I still had no computer (I was 12 years old, I think), so I spent a lot of time at my neighbours' when his big brother was away. So we got to play a little, and when I was 14 years old, I got my own computer. I played BW, and after that it just got more and more. We used to LAN a lot and play a lot where I lived, and we played a lot of different games, but then we stopped LAN-ing and I got a modem, and then I just started playing hardcore and got a phone bill of 1000 kronor [Swedish currency] a month and grumpy parents - but it all ended well.

Which race is the best for solo? Rank them from 1-4.

Hmm, I don't want to say that one race is better than another, but it is obvious that some races are better against other races on certain maps. But I will admit that Undead is a little better than the other races overall, even though it is only marginally. Also I personally think that Orc is really strong against Undead and weak against Night Elf. But overall, I think it is quite even now, a little patch and most of it should be fixed, then you just have to adjust the maps a little, for instance, I think they should remove Lost Temple and make some changes to the other maps.

What are your thoughts when you face a Night Elf player?

What? I think about checking his build and not letting him expo and pick off a few of his units as well, seeing how it is impossible to go up against a Night Elf army before you have tier 3 and three heroes.

What do you think about the range of Death Coil and Storm Bolt, a lot of people have questioned these two.

The Bolt is worse than the Coil as if you Bolt a hero, then Slow it and Bolt again, the hero is dead. Then again, no one uses Coil against me, so it is hard to say. But Coil is definitely a good skill, but if you take a look at the Archmage, then it is quite nice being able to creep without losing any unit hit points at all. You can discuss what's better than what as long as you want, but I think that instead, you should look at the whole and the game balance. But of course it would be fun if you could actually play without going Death Knight/Archmage as the first heroes.

Why are there so many Undead players on the top of the Kalimdor ladder?

Because the good players chose to play UD. =) I am sure that if Sweet, FoV, Reign and Gostop had picked another race, they would still be top 20. So the way I see it, it is simply because the good players picked the same race.

Which hero do you choose in UD vs UD, Lich or Dreadlord?

I could never imagine going Dreadlord as the first hero, so I would definitely pick the Lich.

What do you think are the most important factors if a player wants to reach the top?

Will and determination. And of course you should not be too stupid.

On IRC, I saw you mention that one of the most important things you learnt in Korea was that you should not go into a match with a pre-determined build, and that being able to adjust was extremely important. Do you want to mention other important gaming aspects that you have learnt?

Hmm, I have learnt extremely much down here, and when I look back on how I played earlier, I don't understand how I could win. There are so many extremely good Koreans, and they all have an individual way of playing, so I have counters to a lot of builds and I think it will be hard to surprise me now. I've learnt to read a player in a whole different way, when I see which buildings he has got and which items he uses for his heroes and which hero levels he has got, I can easily calculate exactly which creep camps he has crept - which is extremely important when you play against a player which is at least equally skilled as myself. Then you can afford to go to a camp that has already been crept, and through looking at tech level and buildings, you know if he has expanded or not and you can even know exactly where it is.

There has always been a discussion about APM. What do you think, is your three times higher APM just a coincidence, or is that partly why you are this good right now?

I have been playing RTS games for almost seven years, and my APM has always gone up a bit as the pressure to do well has gone up. But it has definitely gone up a lot more during the time I have spent in Korea than it did when I was in Sweden. I spam a lot when I play and it works well for me, some people don't like it, and they get easily tired when they click too much. I would say that about 150-200 would be right if you want to beat the best players.

How much do you get for playing for Frienz?

Like I told someone else I get more than what I spend, but it says in my contract that I cannot say how much I earn, so I will skip that...

What do you think about your new, fancy StarWars suit?

It is like that, it can be really hot as it is made of leather. But I like it nonetheless.

Do you have a manager or do you train some other player?

I have a manger that set ups all the events and so on. And no, I don't train anyone, that would be too time-consuming.

How do you communicate with your teammates? Do you speak English, or do you take Korean evening courses?

Nah, I don't really want to learn Korean that hardcore as I don't know how long I will stay here. I am doing fine using body language, and Leader and Zorro know some English, so it is not a problem. But I have a Korean book that teaches me some words, but not that seriously.

Which match is the hardest one you've played?

Well, when you have played 2000 games it is hard to say which one was the toughest one. I have been owned in five minutes sometimes, and died after 60 minutes other times, so I have to say that the question is a little weird. No match that you lose has been easy.

What is it like being on TV? Do you ever watch the VODs afterwards?

In the start I always watched the VOD after playing, but now I haven't done that for a while. It is great fun to play on TV, and you always get a lot of feedback from the fans after the games.

Has any players from Northrend impressed you? If so, who?

Grubby and Insomnia.

Finally, we at Gamingeye and the Swedish gaming community thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions, and we wish you good luck for the future. Do you have something else you'd like to mention?

Yeah, I can mention a funny story that happened to me, I was down in Busan this weekend for an event. After having played showgames along with our fans, we gave some autographs. I asked my manager to tell everyone to put their names on a paper, so that I knew who I should write them to. Anyway, this guy comes forward with a paper where it says "Min Kuk" [Editor's note: This means "my cock" in Swedish]. I have to admit that it was really hard not to laugh when I was writing Fredrik Johansson to "My Cock". Other than that, thank you to everyone who took the time to make good questions!

We at Gamingeye hope that you are happy about your answers. We want to thank you all for asking questions and thus helping to make the interview as good as possible. This will probably not be the last questions Fredrik will answer, so if you were disappointed, just don't give up. Thanks again!

WCReplays.com's new affiliate, the Swedish website Gamingeye.com, has made a few interviews with the one and only MaDFroG. We have been allowed to translate these interviews in order to share them with those who do not speak Swedish.

You can't post an interview/article/commentary without it saying "By ______"

Seeing as she's from Norway, it shouldn't be too difficult translating it. By the by Kid: "I am not sure who is the best at drinking, but I am quite bad seeing how I only dare 62, so I it is hard competing with them."
In the interview it said "väger" not "vågar" so the correct translation is weight, not dare. :]

k33gan: Why did you say you did this interview Kida, it's 100% gaming eyes =.=

The "by" tag refers to the poster of the material, not the author. By giving due credit both on the front page and in the very first paragraph, I thought people would be smart enough to understand who wrote it.

I must conclude that either, you did not read the material, or, you are just trying to make trouble out of an automatically generated tag. Which is it?

"WTF? 'Orc strong against undead but weak against night elf' Isn't it opposite. Demolishers rape elves, fiends and statues rape orcs."
-liuc000
Good orc players are extreemly difficult to beat as ud. They can either tower you or go mass air (which beats fiends pretty decisively if you do it right and know when to attack) My lowest win % is vs orcs as a level 16 solo ud user.

@Squidsman the orcs you play at lvl 16 aren't good lol...
@article Calculating where they have creeped based on hero's exp=FUCKING GENIUS. That will improve my game 250%, never ever would have thought of that.

valor, wtf are you talking about? i've played many level 20+ orcs, and they for sure are good players. you can't get that high without being a good player. at any rate, your comment had nothing to do with my post, so i don't see why you even bothered addressing me

i am very surprised that he thinks neorc o_O
i myself as a nightelf gamer thinks extreamly different, ne has chance vs all without orc. gruntapult tr too good.
furthermore blizzard should just change that tower cant be made out a a special area around the main
btw nice interview at all =)

tis halaryking (meaning halarious) your artical is great and very interesting but for your own benifit you should know that drinking leads to life's destruction, unless your not obsessive about it. Anyways well writin artical it was.